Exeter Chiefs edge past Harlequins 17-15 at Sandy Park

Exeter Chiefs 17-15 Harlequins, Sandy Park
Scorecard

Exeter Chiefs managed to hold on to a late charge from Harlequins as they completed a close 17-15 win at Sandy Park in the 20th round of the Gallagher Premiership on Saturday.

This is Exeter's 16th win from 20 games and one more victory will assure them the top position finish in the league stage while Harlequins now slip to fifth place with 51 points as they continue their battle for play-off.

It took Exeter Chiefs just two minutes to get their first points on the board when Dave Ewers set up Ollie Devoto over the line for the opening try and Joe Simmonds kicked the conversion to take them to a seven point lead.

The lead became 12-0 by the 11th minute when Nic White dived from close range for Exeter's second try and just at the stroke of half-time Harlequins got their first points on the board, courtesy a penalty kick from Marcus Smith leading the teams to a 12-3 scoreline before the break.

Exeter continued to attack and it paid dividends early in the second half when Harry Williams dotted down their third try in the 47th minute making the scoreline 17-3. Just as Harlequins were desperate to bounce back, Exeter's replacement Ben Moon was sin-binned reducing the home side to 14-men temporarily.

The visitors made full use of the advantage with tries from Sam Hidalgo-Clyne (64') and Charlie Walker (68') but Smith managed just one conversion leaving the Quins two point short. Smith had a chance to seal a win for the Quins but missed a penalty goal with five minutes left in the game as Exeter completed a 17-15 win.